Smelling Blood

There is a segment of our population that eagerly awaits any error by the school district so that it can be exploited. This group points fingers with righteous indignation, frequently using the infraction as a call for school vouchers. This seems to be the case with the latest problems involving the Greenville County School District and student data found on auctioned computers.

First let’s examine the involvement of Senator David Thomas. I can’t think of a single reason why he should have been involved in this case, other than to create an image as Protector of the People. Both WH Group and Sen. Thomas should have turned over the data to the district immediately, rather that trying to hang onto it and milk it for further gain. The District finally had to sue, and a judge did order the data returned.

I still think the Greenville School District was stupid to let this data get out the way it did, but it really turns my stomach to see how other players seem to be circling the victim. WH Group gets "I told you so" satisfaction, Sen. Thomas furthers his political career, the News has more sales because of front page scandal reports, and the anti-public school crowd gets more ammo for their agenda.

In all of this it seems like the only one now doing the RIGHT thing is the district, by having implemented stricter policies and making attempts to get the data back.